'People should be named and shamed' - Families welcome fresh police investigation into Hillsborough Disaster

FAMILIES today welcomed news a fresh police investigation will be held into the Hillsborough disaster.

FAMILIES today welcomed news a fresh police investigation will be held into the Hillsborough disaster.

The actions of council officials, police, football chiefs and stadium engineers will be probed as part of the new criminal investigation announced by Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday.

The inquiry will focus on the deaths of 96 Liverpool FC fans during the FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday FC’s Hillsborough ground on April 15, 1989.

Mrs May said the criminal probe would investigate “all of the people and organisations involved – before, on and after” the tragedy.

The ECHO understands this will include Sheffield Wednesday, the Football Association, Sheffield council and engineers who worked on the Hillsborough stadium – as well as police officers responsible for safety, planning and policing the football match.

The new probe, led by former Durham chief constable Jon Stoddart, was confirmed on the same day the High Court quashed the original inquest verdicts.

It will run alongside and be based in the same Warrington office as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) probe into the actions of police officers in the Hillsborough cover-up.

“The important thing about this announcement is that the investigation deals with the way the disaster occurred.

“It could lead to criminal charges and we have been given assurances it will be rigorously investigated.”

Hillsborough Family Support Group chairman Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son, James, was among the 96 who died, said: “We deserve accountability and I really do believe people should be named and shamed.

“We are not vengeful people. Not one person has spent even five minutes in a jail cell. They got away with it.

“Do I have trust in the police? Well, they are not all the same, and we have a different generation now.”

Mr Stoddart today pledged to meet with the families of those who died “to establish a working open relationship with them throughout the investigation”.

The report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, chaired by the Rt Rev James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool, said Sheffield Wednesday’s ground “failed to meet minimum standards” and the safety of the crowd admitted to the Leppings Lane terrace was “compromised at every level”.

To avoid the police investigating the police, any police wrongdoing or failing identified by the new probe will be passed to the IPCC.

No current or former officers with any prior connection to the disaster will play a part in the new probe.

Mrs May said: “There will be two investigations – one into the deaths at Hillsborough and one into the police actions in the aftermath.

“This investigation will ensure nobody with responsibility for fan safety at Hillsborough will escape scrutiny.”

An “Independent Challenge Panel” will be established by the IPCC and the Director of Public Prosecutions to scrutinise the investigations.

South Yorkshire police pledge to ‘cooperate fully’ with new Hillsborough investigation and inquests

SOUTH Yorkshire police were among organisations today pledging to “cooperate fully” with the new investigation and fresh inquests into the Hillsborough disaster.

When the independent panel’s report was published in September, the force’s current chief constable, David Crompton, said he was “profoundly sorry” and acknowledged “disgraceful lies were told which blamed the Liverpool fans for the disaster”.

Yesterday, the original inquests were quashed and the Government confirmed a new police probe will investigate “all of the people and organisations involved – before, on and after” the tragedy.

After the announcements, Mr Crompton pledged: “The force will continue to cooperate fully with any judicial processes following the release of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report and online archive.

“We do not want to cause any unnecessary delays for the families and reiterate our commitment to supporting all processes.”

South Yorkshire police commissioner Shaun Wright said: “I welcome these latest developments, which are significant steps forward for the Hillsborough families in their long fight for justice.

“Following the criticisms levelled in the Hillsborough report, it is my goal to help rebuild trust in South Yorkshire police and I support any process that brings greater accountability to the force’s actions.”

After the High Court quashed the original inquest verdicts returned on the 96 Liverpool FC fans who died, a spokesman for the South Yorkshire Coroner said: “The coroner’s office will co-operate with the new inquest process in whatever way the courts consider appropriate.”

The independent panel found that Sheffield Wednesday FC’s ground “failed to meet minimum standards under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975”.

It also said the safety of the crowd admitted to the Leppings Lane terrace was “compromised at every level”.

Sheffield council has already apologised for the part it played in licensing and carrying out “inadequate and poorly recorded inspections” of the Hillsborough stadium.

Today, it pledged to cooperate fully with any new investigation.

On the new inquests, a council spokesman said: “We have always co-operated with inquiries following the disaster, including contributing all the information and documents we hold to the independent archive.

“We will continue to give our co-operation willingly when required to do so.”

On September 12, the day the panel’s report was released, Sheffield Wednesday apologised to “all the families who have suffered as a consequence” of the tragedy.

Today, a club spokesman said it did not want to comment further, adding: “It is the families’ time now.”

A spokesman for the Football Association said: “We are absolutely supportive of the new inquests and we will co- operate fully in any ongoing matters.”

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said he “welcomed the new police investigation, which we hope will result in those that played a role in causing the disaster and the monumental cover up are brought to account”.

Liverpool FC hailed the “step towards justice” after the decision to quash the 96 accidental death inquest verdicts.

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Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.